Jesus and the Prodigal Son: Interviews With Ray S. Anderson

By Ray S. Anderson

In two interviews in the "You're Included" series, Ray Anderson talks about ministry, Jesus, Judas, and the prodigal son. In a third interview, Chris Kettler talks about the ministry of Dr. Anderson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace Communion International
• Release date: May 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476229669

Ray S. Anderson

Ray Sherman Anderson (1925-2009) was professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Book preview

Jesus and the Prodigal Son:

Interviews With Ray S. Anderson

Copyright 2012 Grace Communion International

Published by Grace Communion International

Table of Contents

Introduction

Starting Theology With Jesus

God and the Prodigal Son

The Ministry of Ray S. Anderson: An Interview With Christian Kettler

About the Publisher

Grace Communion Seminary

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Introduction

This is a transcript of interviews conducted as part of the You’re Included series, sponsored by Grace Communion International. We have more than 130 interviews available. You may watch them or download video or audio at https://learn.gcs.edu/course/view.php?id=58. Donations in support of this ministry may be made at https://www.gci.org/online-giving/.

Grace Communion International is in broad agreement with the theology of the people we interview, but GCI does not endorse every detail of every interview. The opinions expressed are those of the interviewees. We thank them for their time and their willingness to participate.

Please understand that when people speak, thoughts are not always put into well-formed sentences, and sometimes thoughts are not completed. In the following transcripts, we have removed occasional words that did not seem to contribute any meaning to the sentence. In some cases we could not figure out what word was intended. We apologize for any transcription errors, and if you notice any, we welcome your assistance.

Our guest in the first two interviews is Ray S. Anderson (1925-2009), formerly professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr. Anderson studied for his PhD under Thomas F. Torrance at Edinburgh University. Dr. Anderson is the author of the following books:

An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches

Christians Who Counsel: The Vocation of Wholistic Therapy

Dancing With Wolves While Feeding The Sheep: Musings of a Maverick Theologian

Don’t Give Up On Me—I’m Not Finished Yet! A Beginner’s Guide to Self Recovery

Evangelical Theology: Heirs of Protestant Orthodoxy

Everything I Needed to Know I Learned From My Father

Everything That Makes Me Happy I Learned When I Grew Up

Exploration Into God: Sermonic Meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes

God So Loved ... : A Theology for Ministry Formation

The Gospel According to Judas: Is There a Limit to God’s Forgiveness?

Historical Transcendence and the Reality Of God: A Christological Critique

Judas And Jesus: Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul

Like Living Stones

Living the Spiritually Balanced Life: Acquiring the Virtues You Admire in Others

Minding God’s Business

Ministry on the Fireline: A Practical Theology for an Empowered Church

The New Age of Soul: Spiritual Wisdom for a New Millennium

On Being Family: A Social Theology of the Family

On Being Happy: Everything That Makes Me Unhappy I Learned as a Child

On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology

The Praxis of Pentecost: Revisioning the Church’s Life and Mission

The Seasons of Hope: Empowering Faith Through the Practice of Hope

Self-Care: A Theology of Personal Empowerment and Spiritual Healing

The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry With Theological Praxis

Something Old, Something New: Marriage and Family Ministry in a Postmodern Culture

The Soul of God: A Theological Memoir

The Soul of Ministry: Forming Leaders for God’s People

Soulprints: Personal Reflections on Faith, Hope and Love

Spiritual Caregiving as Secular Sacrament: A Practical Theology for Professional Caregivers

Theological Anthropology and the Revelation of God

Theological Foundations for Ministry: Selected Readings for a Theology of the Church in Ministry

A Theological Perspective on Human Personhood

Theology, Death, and Dying

Unspoken Wisdom: Truths My Father Taught Me

Our third interview is with Christian Kettler, who was Professor of Religion and director of the Master of Arts and Christian Ministry program at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Kettler studied under Ray Anderson at Fuller Seminary and has written a book about Ray Anderson’s theology and helped edit a book of essays in his honor:

Reading Ray S. Anderson: Theology as Ministry, Ministry as Theology

Incarnational Ministry: The Presence of Christ in Church, Society, and Family: Essays in Honor of Ray S. Anderson

The interviews were conducted by J. Michael Feazell, who received his D.Min. degree from Azusa Pacific University in 2000. At the time of the interviews, he was vice-president of Grace Communion International; he is now retired.

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back to table of contents

Starting Theology With Jesus

JMF: Welcome to You’re Included. With us today is Dr. Ray Anderson. Dr. Anderson is senior professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. He’s author of more than 20 books, including An Emergent Theology of Emerging Churches, and Judas and Jesus, Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul. Dr. Anderson is also a contributing editor for the Journal of Psychology and Theology.

Thank you for being with us today.

RA: Thank you, Mike, I’m glad to be here.

JMF: We’re looking forward to discussing some very interesting and important topics. I want to begin by helping our viewers understand a little bit about what theology is and what difference theology makes to the believer.